And So, We Grow

We care, and are cared for—these actions form a unity with mothering at their core. Can one mother (verb) without being a mother (noun), I wonder?

And So, We Grow
Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck 

I paint, I plant, I see, We care, and are cared for—these actions form a unity with mothering at their core. Can one mother (verb) without being a mother (noun), I wonder?

Since 2010, I have captured moments from my daily life and its transnational aspects through 35mm colour film, starting with a hand-me-down camera from my father and later using one passed down from my father-in-law. I began photographing my nieces in 2014. This work, alongside my painting, explores themes of family, memory, love, loss, oneness and identity. In both my family and my husband's, men have traditionally been the ones to document family life. Now, I am the joyful bearer of the camera. The body of work I propose for the PhMuseum Prize, And So, We Grow, focuses on photographs of my nieces, mother-in-law Bibi, my husband, and our family allotments and gardens in Oxfordshire and France, along with the life forms that inhabit them—especially butterflies and insects, sources of timeless wonder. Over the years, my nieces have blossomed—now aged 12, 13, and 15—and these images capture their growth from childhood to adolescence. `

I imagine this book to be small and fit easily into everyday life. In addition to a photographic book, for a book launch, I would love to include a small crochet structure—a playful habitat created by myself and the people in the photos. Light enough to hang on the wall, it will complement the display. Drawings from my nieces' childhoods and floral motifs will also be featured.

Cultural Notes: I am French with North African roots, and my husband is British Indian with Sikh Punjabi heritage from Uganda, Kenya, and India. My work, like my life, is multilingual.